On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. It's also an event that you can join in with too - Mr Linky is always at the ready for you to link your own 'On My Wishlist' post. If you want to know more click here.

Passion

This wish list item should be in nothing but capital letters as I am seriously SO EXCITED waiting for the next series in Lauren Kate's Fallen series, called Passion. It was first expected to come out in May and now JUNE!! Wth? But still very excited.

Let me be completely honest, I was sure this book would be hokey and far fetched and maybe even a bit stupid. How harsh, right? I guess I have felt a bit tired of the same old fantasy books that just keep replaying or rereading themselves over and over again.

Well, this wasn't one of those. It hooked me in less than 60 pages. I was flipping pages so fast I had to slow myself down or I might miss something.

Oh good books are so wonderful!

This is book is based off Persephone, Queen of the Underworld (Greek Goddess) who spent half her year above the world and the other half below after being stolen from Hades.

Kate Winter (seriously, could she have a more fabulous name?) has had a tough life. Her mother is dying and she has moved to her mother's place of growing up. A town where everyone already pities her for her loss, even though it hasn't happened. Kate, of course, catches the fancy of the football star whose girlfriend is psycho. Sound like real life??? Well, then the crazy girlfriend pulls a stunt that puts Kate in a position of what to do - let someone die or save them by promising anything. And of course, anything means ANYTHING.

Would you save someone who intended to harm you even if it meant consequences for you?

What would you promise to save your mother's life?

And maybe knowing I had saved her would help me hurt a little less, too. He drummed his fingers against the armrest of the sofa, his eyes on me once again. "Kate, I do not invite just anyone into my home. Do you understand why I offered this to you?" Because he was crazy? I shook my head."Because even though she had abandoned you, instead of feeling spiteful or allowing her to die, you did everything in your power - including face one of your greatest fears - save her."

I find books that make me ask and think about choices in life, what would I do, are simply fantastic as I am definitely one of those people who love to analyze life and this book was no exception to that. The closeness of good and evil gave me chills and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop because when dealing with the devil, he never has to keep his promises, does he? And he can change his meaning and underlying tones in the blink of an eye.

"These tests will most likely come when you least expect them. I am not in charge of administering them, nor am I the final judge.""I am not really good at pop quizzes," I said.He chuckled and it washed over me, helping to dissolve some of my anxiety, "These are not the sort of tests a teacher would grade you on. They test who you are, not what you have stored in your brain. It is possible you will recognize them as they are happening, and it is possible you will not. But just be yourself. That is all anyone can ask of you."

I refuse to ruin any of this book with spoilers. I really loved it. Once I figured out what was happening and where this book could take me, I sighed with pleasure and laid back to enjoy the ride.

Definitely a MUST READ for younger teen girls in need of coaching, positive energy or just a different frame of mind - I plan to get one of these for my 14 year old niece. It had so much real life to it and yet, it was a serious play on fantasy. I mean how many times a day do we wonder who other people are and what their intentions may be; not to mention who we are and what we desire from life? It made relating to the book that much easier. I simply love that this book kept coming back to the same thoughts - Just be who you are and As long as you try your hardest, the outcome doesn't matter.

Summary:

EVERY GIRL who has taken the test has DIED.

Now it's KATE'S TURN.

It’s always been just Kate and her mom—and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate’s going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear her mother won’t live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld—and if she accepts his bargain, he’ll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he’s crazy—until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she’ll become Henry’s future bride, and a goddess.

If she fails...

Excerpt from The Goddess Test:

“The prize is immortality,” Henry said. “It’s not something we give out lightly, and we need to make sure it is something you can handle.”

I felt a cold block of ice form in the pit of my stomach. So my choices now were to live forever or die trying. Somehow it didn’t seem fair.

“You will do well,” Henry said. “I can feel it. And afterward, you will help me do something that no one else is capable of doing. You will have power beyond imagining, and you will never fear death again. You will never grow old and you will always be beautiful. You will have eternal life to spend as you wish.” But would I have my mother?

Right away I am completely pulled in by the distinct character stories. The PDF file of this book I am reading is a little messed up because every other sentence is cut off and then uses a hyphen to pull it together. Not easy reading. But each chapter is so wonderfully extraordinary and so detailed that though I am confused, I am so much more intrigued.

I have read a few of Diane Chamberlain books before and I love her writing. It is a bit similar to Jodi Picoult in that she has wonderful portrayals of people's in-depth lives. Makes me feel like I am there. Each emotion is so gut wrenching that I can't let go. I refused to put down this book. I know this will be a very late and very long night. The oil will be burning.

My favorite pull in though is Noelle's story and the way her mother tells her unique Lumbee Indian histories and how they intertwine her own ancestry. For example this one tells about the Spanish-moss hung from the cypress trees lining the roads -

A Lumbee Indian Chief's wife had disobeyed him, so he chopped off her hair and tossed it over the branch of a tree, where it grew and multiplied and soon began covering the branches of all the neighboring trees.

Noelle trying to find her place in the world came about on a night when her mother, a midwife of secrecy needed her help.

It takes about four chapters to figure out where this book is going and the connection to each of the characters. Tara is a close friend of Noelle, the woman who commits suicide (as written in the books jacket/summary) and feels that -

It was the jolt to my solar plexus, the realization that the friendship between Emerson, Noelle and myself had been more lopsided than I'd imagined.

Learning each others secrets may be more than they can handle, even together.

I was absolutely and undeniably riveted by this entire book. I could not put it down. In fact, about three quarters of the way through the book they reveal a huge secret twist AND I DID NOT GUESS IT!!! Shocker. So wonderfully delightful . . . though my boss may be concerned when he looks at my time punches only to see my lunches ended up longer than allowed over the past couple of days. Whoops. It was that good.

ABSOLUTELY A FANTASTIC BOOK

Completely looking forward to catching up on other Diane Chamberlain books I have missed.

Book Summary:

“I don’t know how to tell you what I did.”

The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind Noelle’s suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle—her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her family—described a woman who embraced life.

But they didn’t know everything.

Because the unaddressed letter reveals a terrible secret...and a legacy of guilt that changes everything they thought they knew about the woman who delivered their children. A legacy that will irrevocably change their own lives—and the life of a desperate stranger—forever.

From the bestselling author of The Lies We Told and The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes comes a story of deception that asks “How much is too much to forgive?”

The main character, Jenna, is going through a rough time in her life with the loss of her husband, loss of her career and feeling like the loss of herself. On a whim, she uses her divorce settlement to buy a building and turn it into a cooking store. She hires some help with retail experience, Violet and after much struggles actual starts to find a direct for the store to go in. Right as things start to settle her birth parents show up and all the drama breaks loose.

I enjoyed this book. It was entertaining. The opening of the cooking store got my attention from the get-go. I love this kind of thing - the creativeness, the inventing of new ideas and how to make things work. I loved the comradeship among Jenna and Violet. Every time I read something about Beth, Jenna's mother, I wanted to sob and call my mother. Beth was probably my favorite character with Dragon, Jenna's birth brother, a close second. The differences in personalities was nice too.

Overall though, found the book a bit depressing as far as women and the way Jenna felt about herself. I agree that after a divorce and giving your entire self over to your ex husband, it can be quite the trial to find out how to fix things and live again, but I felt like Jenna got a little whiny. I read recently that women writers tend to make men in their novels less manly (no farting, belching and butt scratching type of stuff) in order to make the store more enjoyable and I get the feeling this novel was a bit too emotionally, stereotypical woman. On one hand, I really felt for Jenna and the pull between her adopted mother and her birth mother, but on the other, I kept wondering why doesn't she speak up and ask for space. Why doesn't she push for more concrete answers? It frustrated me even though I had a pretty good idea why and what would happen.

I also wasn't too thrilled with the way the story held little to no surprises. I can enjoy a book that lays it out in front of me, but I knew way before any of it occurred, what was actually going to happen. Bummer. It was a bit of a strain to read sometimes.

Don't get me wrong. This book would be a great vacation type of book - very light-hearted, but all in all I was a little disappointed.

I came home today around 10pm from work and as I rounded the corner of my street I saw that my garage door was open.

There is no way to lock the door from my garage to the house. It is a simple turn and push lock that only locks from the inside, so if I choose to go out the garage door, it stays unlocked. In the past, I really haven't thought anything of that because the garage door is closed.

I came home tonight, in the pitch dark and realized I had to go in my house with who knows what waiting for me.

I would have called Saint, but he was pulling an overnight.

I called my Dad and made him stay on the phone with me while I walked through my place checking out all the little crevices. Just an after thought, there really aren't very many places to hide. Thank goodness. My only concern is the spare bedroom which no one resides in, including not having a light, so I had to track down a flashlight to search it.

Not a thing was out of place. Not to mention my cats were acting completely normal. Not that they would do anything should a stranger arise other than maybe attack me because they are scared.

I am assuming that my garage simply jumped back open when I closed it. Which means that my house was open to anyone for almost nine hours. I shudder.

In My Mailbox is a meme courtesy of The Story Siren which if you haven't seen her vlog of this yet, go visit her blog.

This week was a bit crazy as I am working with a new website that is offering up reviews for books and I am suddenly inundated with books to read. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. This is a great place to be and having this kind of problems, well, isn't bad. I just have a stack sky high to read now. I will just pick the highlights.